Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of identification of assets, and specifically, to a method and system utilizing retroreflective tags for asset identification.
Organizations all over the world own a large amount of assets that may include machines, devices and articles that are used in the organization, raw material required for manufacturing articles, and articles of manufacture that are sold at retail counters. In addition, a large number of human assets are employed to manage this inventory. For example, hospitals have a number of instruments such as X-ray machines, ultrasound scanners, medical ventilators, and medical monitors. In addition, hospitals also employ doctors, paramedical staff, and care-takers. Most organizations, owing to the costs incurred in purchasing and efficiently managing such assets want to track the assets. In addition, organizations also need to manage facility operations and restrict access to their facilities and allow only a certain set of individuals access to areas within these facilities. Further, it is also important for organizations to keep track of every item from their inventory to avoid losses due to misplacement of assets. Thus, it is important for organizations to identify physical and human assets.
One of the most common techniques of tracking and managing human assets is scanning or swiping a bar or magnetic code. However, this method requires the individuals to be cooperative and scan the user tags having the bar or magnetic codes. Also, the human assets are required to physically handle the cards/tags to get recognized. In cases such as hospitals, where the individuals are required to maintain high standards of physical hygiene, it thus becomes unadvisable that the individuals to handle tags/cards before they come in contact with patients.
To avoid physical contact with cards/tags, some organizations associate a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags with physical and human assets. RFID tags are small and do not generally require a power source. In operation, the RFID tags transmit signals to a receiver located in proximity to the RFID tag and allows for identification. However, RFID tags typically cannot pinpoint the exact location of the asset; they merely establish the presence of the RFID tag in the field of sensitivity of the receiver. For example, an RFID tag meant to be associated with an asset may be misplaced in an area of sensitivity of a particular receiver. The receiver in such cases will always establish the presence of the assets although the assets may be at some distance from the receiver. Additionally, RFID tags are direction insensitive, and do not perform well when they are blocked from the transmitter through an obstruction or due to interference from electronic machinery.
Biometric recognition systems address the issue of identification of individuals near the recognition systems. These systems identify humans through the use of distinct features associated with one's face, fingerprints, iris, and/or voice. These systems, however, cannot be used to recognize inanimate assets such as machines and electronic devices. Further, for a large organization, installation of biometric recognition systems tends to be expensive and time consuming.
Hence, there is a need for a method and system that utilizes existing infrastructure at organizations to identify physical and human assets in a non-intrusive manner.